SpaceX launched another batch of its Starlink Internet satellites into the sky today (April 23).
A Falcon 9 rocket carrying 23 Starlink spacecraft lifted off from the Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida at 6:17 p.m. EDT (2217 GMT) today.
Falcon 9's first stage came back down to Earth for a vertical landing 8.5 minutes after launch as scheduled. It touched down on the Just Read the Instructions SpaceX droneship stationed in the Atlantic Ocean.
Related: Starlink satellite train: How to see and track it in the night sky
Step one is the ninth launch and landing for this particular booster SpaceX mission description. Five of its previous eight liftoffs were Starlink missions.
Falcon 9's upper stable today will carry 23 Starlink satellites into low Earth orbit (LEO).
Tonight is SpaceX's 41st launch, and the 28th of 2024 is dedicated to building the massive and ever-growing Starlink megaconstellations. There are Almost 5,800 According to astrophysicist and satellite observer Jonathan McDowell, the Starlink satellites currently operating in LEO.
The Starlink launch completed the first half of a spaceflight: A Rocket Lab Electron vehicle launched two satellites, including a NASA solar-sailing technology demonstrator, from New Zealand at 6:33 p.m. EDT (2233 GMT) today.
Editor's note: This story was updated on April 23 at 6:30 PM ET with news of the successful launch and first stage landing.
